Magnetic pencil clip and method of manufacturing



April 10, 1962 J. COOK 3,028,631

MAGNETIC PENCIL CLIP AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING Original Filed Nov. 21,1957

INVENTOR. JACKSON COOK 21 BY ga 7 United States Patent Ofifice 3,028,631 MAGNETIC PENCIL CLIP AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING fackson Cook, Van 'Nuys, Calif, assignor of forty percent to Kenneth L. Stout, Van Nuys, Calif.

Original application Nov. 21, 1957, Ser. No. 697,921, now Patent No. 2,964,812, dated Dec. 20, 1960. Divided and this application Oct. 8, 1958, Ser. No. 766,110

3 Claims. (Cl. 18-59) The invention relates to a magnetic clip and the method of manufacture and more particularly to a pencil clip which can support a pencil in the usual clip manner or can support the pencil on a metal surface by magnetic attraction.

This application is a division of patent application Serial No. 697,921, now Patent No. 2,964,812, filed November 21, 1957, by Jackson Cook.

Magnets have been utilized in the past to support pencils, but since the magnets have not been wholly supported by clips, the pencils could not be supported in the usual clip manner. In the present invention, an ordinary pencil clip is utilized, and the magnet is positioned at the outer surface of the legof the clip which is substantially parallel to the pencil. Both the magnet and the clip leg are embedded in a material, such as plastic, to provide a smooth body containing the magnet, and a space is provided between the body and the pencil to permit the pencil to be clipped onto the clothing and other articles in the usual manner. A novel method of producing the magnetic clip is also provided whereby a plurality of clip j bodies can be formed in a single mold plate while the mag nets'are held in position during the molding operation by magnetic attraction to the mold and the legs of the clip are also held in position on the magnet during the molding operation. If the clip body is formed of a magnetic plastic material or if the plastic body has magnetic particles distributed therein, the need for a single magnetic member carried by the clip leg is eliminated. While the present invention is particularly adaptable to pencil clips, the invention can be utilized to provide clip attachments for various articles which are to be magnetically supported.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic clip having a leg extending from the article to be supported and a magnetic material supported by the leg to provide for attachment of the article to a suitable surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clip and magnet combination in which the magnet is carried solely by a leg of the clip and both the leg and magnet are embedded in a molded body.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic pencil clip having a member attached to the pencil and a leg extending from the attachment member for supporting magnetic material, the magnetic material being spaced from the pencil so that the pencil can be supported in the usual clip manner or by magnetic attraction to a suitable surface.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method of producing a magnetic clip by securing a portion of the clip to magnetic material through the use of a molding process.

These and other objects of the invention not specifically set forth above will become apparent from the accompanying description and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view, showing a magnetic clip of the present invention secured to a pencil;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section partly in elevation, along line 2-2 of FIGURE 3 illustrating the construction of the clip and the manner in which the magnet sup ports the pencil;

3,628,631 Patented Apr. 10, 1962 FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section along line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section along line 4-4 of FIG- URE 5 showing the molding cavities which receive the magnet and the leg of the clip;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the mold of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of a modification in which the clip body is formed of magnetic plastic material.

Referring to FIGURES 1-3, an embodiment of the magnetic clip for supporting a pencil is illustrated. The clip 10 has curved members 11 and 12 at one end which snugly receive the body of pencil 13 in order to attach the clip to the pencil. Each member comprises spaced ar 14 and 15 attached to a center member 16 and con nec ed by a cross arm 17. A space 18 is provided between the ends of the arms so that the arms can be sprung outwardly to receive the pencil. A clip leg 19 has a curved section 20 connecting with the center member 16 and has a substantially straight leg section 21 connecting with the curved section. The leg section 21 issubstantially parallel to the pencil 13 and is spaced therefrom by the curved section 20. Clips of this structure and hav serted into the space between leg section 21 andthe pencil 13 in order to secure the pencil thereto.

A permanent magnet 22 formed of any suitable ma terial such as alnico, is located adjacent the outer surface of leg section 21 and is of somewhat greater length. The magnet 22, leg section 21 and a portion of curved section 20 are embedded in a body 23 of non-magnetic material, such as polyester plastic. However, the outer surface of the magnet 22 forms a portion of the outer surface 24 of the body 23 so that the magnet can be attracted to magnetic support plate 25. The inner surface 25 of body 23 is substantially parallel with the pencil 13 and is spaced therefrom to form a clip space 26 for receiving material which serves to support the pencil. It is therefore apparent that the magnetic clip can secure the pencil 13 to any support surface to which the magnet 22 is attracted or can secure the pencil to the edge of material, such as clothing, in the conventional manner.

The plate 25 can be a small magnetic plate specially constructed for attachment to any conventional object such as a telephone, automobile dash, tool box, cupboard, etc. The attachment of the plate can be accomplished by clips, either integral or separate from the plate, or by screws, adhesive, etc. Referring to the modification of FIGURE 6, the permanent magnet 22 is eliminated from the clip by utilizing a body 23' formed of a magnetic plastic which has the property of being attracted to support 25. Also, small magnetic particles can be distributed through the plastic body 23 in place of utilizing the single magnet 22. While the metal clip is in the form of a pencil clip, it is understood that the present invention can be incorporated in any support clip, one portion of which is attached to the supported article and another portion of which supports a permanent magnetic material.

A novel method is provided for the manufacture of the magnetic clip of FIGURES l-3. Referring to FIG- URES 4 and 5, mold 27 has a plurality of cavities 28 formed therein by a mill cutter or other suitable tool, each cavity having the shape of the body 23. The mold is preferably constructed of aluminum, plastic or some other non-magnetic material to which the magnets 22 are not attracted, and a magnetic plate 29 is placed against the bottom surface 30 of the mold. In order to assemble the magnetic clips, the magnets 22 are first placed at the bottom of cavities 28. The magnets are each attracted to plate 29 with a force suflicient to hold each magnet in position against the resultant pull of the magnets located in adjacent cavities. Thereafter, a leg section 21 is positioned on the upper surface of each magnet and is held in position by the attraction of the magnet; The mold cavities are now filled with the non-magneticmaterial in order to form body 23. Since one surface of each magnet 22 lies in the bottom of a cavity, this surface is substantially free of plastic material and forms a part of outer surface 24 of the body 23. During hardening the plastic body 23 will shrink somewhat so that the magnetic clips can be easily removed from the mold 271' In order to form the magnetic clip of-FIGURE' 6, simple clasp means could be carried by the upper surface'ofthe mold 26 to hold leg section 21 in the desired position during the filling of the cavities with magnetic plastic material.

By the present invention, a magnetic clip is provided which can either mechanically or magnetically support an article. Also, the portion of the clip which attaches to the supported article can be constructed for attachment to a variety of different articles. Any suitable magnetic material can be utilized for the clip. It is understood that section 20 of clip leg 19 can flex and that the width of space 26 can be adjusted to provide for the usual clip attachment to various thicknesses of material. Various other modifications are contemplated by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the'spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by theappended-cla'ims'.

What claimed is:

1. The method of forming a magnetic cliphaving a leg section to which is secured a permanent magnet comprising placing the magnet at the bottom of a cavity in a-non-' magnetic'mold so that the magnet isunrestricted and section extending above the with a non-magnetic material to cover the magnet and holding and supportingof the leg section on free from magnetic attraction with respect to the mold,

placing the leg section on the upper surface of the magnet so that the leg section is firmly held and supported by magnetic attraction on the magnet with a portion of the mold and filling the cavity the leg section held on the magnet.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 including the step 1 the steps of placing the magnet at the bottom of a cavity and free from magnetic in a non-magnetic mold so that the magnet is unrestricted attraction with respect to the mold, placing the member on the upper surface of the magnet so that the member is firmly held and supported by a magnetic attraction to the magnet, filling the cavity I with a non-magnetic material so that the material adheres to the exposed surface of the magnet and the member and removing the body with the member and magnet embedded therein. v

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED- STATES PATENTS 1,994,534 Robinson Mar. 19, 1935 30 2,644,212 Markowiti ,Ls July I, 1953 2,745,083 Snavely May 8, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 556,396

Great Britain Oct. 4, 1943 

